Do you know the term “Gaksi”? If you live in Korea, you probably have heard of this term at least once. I don’t think there’s a person who hasn’t heard of this at all. It’s not often used in daily life, so it’s probably only heard in tv shows with stories taking place in the past.  There are three definitions for “Gaksi” according to the Korean dictionary. First, it means ‘wife’. It is written '閣氏' in chinese characters. Second, it means a new bride. Third, it means a doll that looks like a wife. The common factor of these three meanings is they all mean something related to a married woman. Then what does the webtoon’s title ‘Gwigaksi’ mean? It can be inferred from the meaning of the prefix ‘Gwi’. ‘Gwi’ means ‘Gwi’ from ‘Gwisin’, so Gwigaksi must mean a ghost’s wife. This webtoon can be recognized as a horror or a thriller from its thumbnail or its story in the beginning. However, that is the smokescreen the author intended.  In fact, this webtoon is a beautiful, sentimental, and oriental romance webtoon. It is about an arrogant, cocky, and obstinate god-like being loving one human female.

Now the webtoon had its finale on the 136th episode. I am not sure if it’s completely over or there will be next seasons, but readers including myself is waiting for the next season. This is because there are still few plots that haven’t been fully summed up, and more importantly, readers are expecting more. Readers want to see more from protagonists who have very unique and attractive characters. They also want to see more from our charming second male protagonist ‘Drake’ who was liked by so many readers.

The story in the beginning part was simple. Ordinary high school student, Liz looks at a guy through her window one day. She had goosebumps when she first saw this guy with alien and creepy energy, and then she fainted. When she woke up in her bed in the next morning, she thought it was just a nightmare, but it was actually all real. That guy was a ghost who identifies as the mountain itself. (Other ghosts who live in his mountain are basically living under his territory. They respect Damon and call him “sir”. He is some sort of “mountain god” which is like a guardian spirit of the mountain. This makes him different from the other random ghosts) 

When Damon first comes in to Liz’s room, he tries to choose between if he should eat her or make her as his wife. He finally decides to make her his wife and leaves a mark on her. Since Liz gets this mark, her life becomes more spectacular. The mark makes her the target of many other ghosts. (In the ghost world, ghost becomes stronger if it eats a ghost stronger than itself. This makes Damon’s wife a great prey for other ghosts. The ghosts that is somewhat strong doesn’t bother with Damon because they know they might lose, or the fight will become a deathmatch.) Furthermore, Liz started seeing ghosts after having the mark. What do you think this made her feel? It must have been so scary that it would have been impossible for her to have a normal daily life. Is it her destiny to live a completely different life from now on? Is there no going back from this? After this incident, Damon starts being around Liz all the time: in her school and even in her house. (Damon can easily manipulate people’s minds. Liz’s mother doesn’t have a bit of doubt about Damon’s identity.) Then, many other different ghosts get involved with their life, and love relationship between the two gets closer. Many new ghost characters such as Jade, Haetae, and Firefox show up to their life. But, it’s not like there are special episodes with crazy things happening. Most of the episodes are mainly ordinary life stories.

I personally very enjoyed this webtoon, and I found little daily life stories really cute, but there are also many people who criticize the drawing style and too simple plot of this webtoon. Criticisms about poor drawings and lacking story lines were brought up since the beginning. Nonetheless, the main story is finalized now, and alternate timeline where Liz and Damon live as a family also came out, so I am very satisfied. 

What’s sad about the alternate timeline version was that Liz was dead on the first episode. The first episode starts with Liz’s family mourning over Liz’s death in her funeral. Damon who was entirely adjusted to his life among humans calls Liz’s brother “brother-in-law” and dresses in a black suit. It was a shockingly refreshing scene for the readers from the original version.

There are also many other interesting scenes and stories, so I recommend to the readers who haven’t seen the alternate timeline version yet.